n
BUSINESS OPERATIONS
RFID IS READY TO
REVOLUTIONIZE THE
RETAIL INDUSTRY
The powerful tool drives superior customer service beyond inventory management
by CRAIG GUILLOT
M
uch has been said about its ability to track inventory, but the implications
of RFID go far beyond attaching a chip to a sweater to track its movement
through the supply chain. The technology can positively impact everything
from sales and online cart abandonment to pricing and in-store customer
service. And when combined with omnichannel technologies and capabilities, RFID has
the potential to revolutionize the entire retail industry.
Nearly 75 percent of retailers surveyed in research
firm Kurt Salmon's 2016 RFID in Retail study said
they were currently implementing or piloting RFID,
and more retailers are discovering the technology
can offer worthy results: 90 percent said they were
measuring their return on investment by inventory
accuracy with an average improvement of 25
percent.
While inventory visibility and accuracy itself can
be a compelling benefit of RFID, it barely scratches
the surface of the contributions it can make in
other areas of operations.
"Inventory accuracy is huge and has been
pretty documented about RFID," says Steven
Platt, director of the Platt Retail Institute
STORES.ORG
and research director at the Retail Analytics
Council at Northwestern University. "It also
affects everything from ordering to market
down, customer services and a whole host of
other things."
The Platt Retail Institute recently released
a working paper which analyzed data from a
15-month period of RFID testing by Macy's.
The retailer is on a path to tag 100 percent of
its merchandise with RFID by the end of 2017
and has asked all product vendors to supply
merchandise already fitted with tags.
Macy's has had strong results so far. The
use of RFID substantially improved the rate
of display compliance, which drove overall
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